As I've said in previous blogs, in a
larger shoot, there are department heads who have their own lists to
check, double check and final check. For this one, there were three
of us. There was Sunshine Lliteras who had some makeup and half of
the set dressing. There was the Home owner who lent us the location.
He had to sign for the furniture we rented. Then there was my lists
which was everything else. Jon Cunningham, the director, had the shot
list and the camera rigging. Everything had be be cross checked the
Friday before the shoot. We had everything staged for quick car
loading before turning in for the night.
The call time for the location was 7am.
Jack Donner (Bassett) and Donal Thoms-Capello (Saybrook) had a call
time of 8am. We planned on rolling camera on them no later than 9am.
Garett Maggart (Joe) and Owen Szabo (Simon) had a call time of 9am.
The first glitch of the day was that Sunshine got hung up in traffic
and would be late. My first executive decision was to take a cab with
most of the items on all of our lists to the location which was ten
minutes away. I had not planned to unpack the car and begin setting
up everything on my own, but stuff happens and the clock was running.
Once the clock is running on a production, a producer cannot let
anything stand in the way.
 |
| In the cardboard container is that danged sandwich. |
Of course, Jack was early. I had him
come inside and hang out with Garett who is also always early. I
suspected Donal was early, too, but I couldn't spot him in any of the
cars parked nearest to the house. I set up the makeup station and put
away the food first. I had just finished setting up the mike stand
and the one light stand when Jon and Sunshine arrived. Since Jack was
there, we had him get into his costume and makeup first. Jon and
Garett set up the first room by rearranging the larger furniture. We
don't dragoon actors into helping on set. I have had some volunteer
on occasion. Scott Levy, for example, was very helpful with the
military aspects of Demon Under Glass. Typically, I prefer actors
focus on their lines and relaxing. But Owen wasn't due for a while,
and Garett is a very handy guy, so his helping was welcomed. Donal
had arrived by the time we needed a lighting stand in. We were
delighted that he played chess often enough to help us set up the
board. By the time Owen arrived, at just before 9am, we were ready to
start the Bassett/Saybrook scenes. We rolled camera at 9:15am. A
little later than scheduled, but not too bad considering how small a
crew we had.
These new digital cameras are a marvel.
They look like consumer cameras yet can shoot video at 1080p with
ambient light. We had one light that was more for portrait
photography than for film. It was enough. The lack of need for light
and the camera's lightness made it easy to move from angle to angle
without stopping to tweak light levels. That can take as long as
twenty minuets per change in camera position. We were able to move
from shot to shot almost without stopping. The actors never lost
momentum nor got tired. We were able to wrap the room and dismiss
both actors by 11am. Unheard of in our previous experience.
During the shoot, I had to dash out of
the room to retrieve props like a pastrami sandwich and container of
soup. During that time, I got a good earful of how Garett and Owen
were reading their lines. I was really pleased at what I was hearing.
They also seemed to be bonding on a personal level. That's always
great when actors get on personally, especially when they will be
spending a great deal of time together. [for more on the food props
and on the actor bonding that happened on set, you can read my
personal blog about the shoot here:
http://dlwarner.blogspot.com/2012/08/pastrami-epiphanies-and-actor-bonding.html.
While we were shooting the Bassett/Saybrook scenes, Sunshine was
helping Garett and Owen turn into Joe and Simon. As soon as we
wrapped the prison breakroom set, Jon and Sunshine started set
dressing Joe and Simon's living room. We had black out curtains to
put up along with alternative artwork than what was on the walls. The
sofa also had to be moved and the sound and lighting equipment
placed.
Our small crew moved from one task to
another. The routine was familiar enough that instructions weren't
necessary. We walked Jack and Donal to their cars after they changed
out of their costumes. It's a custom on some sets that when an actor
is wrapped – they have completed the job – that the director or
producer takes the time to say goodbye and thank them. Sometimes they
discuss their acting choices and how they will make the film better.
We like to do that no matter how small the production. I think that
gesture is more important to smaller projects. Jon was very happy
with the first part of the shoot, and he wanted those actors to know
why.
The second half of the shoot was all
Joe and Simon. It was more complex than the first. There is way more
movement from the characters. Rehearsal of movements as well as
dialog was necessary, so Jon could figure how to move the camera
around the actors' movements. At this point, we could have broken for
lunch, but that would have really slowed down the momentum of the
shoot. The actors wanted to press forward. We had snacks and fruit
for in between takes. Sunshine and I started heating up the meal
while the guys rehearsed. We figured that even if none of the actors
ate (Jack and Donal opted to head on with the rest of their
schedule), the food would be a nice gift for the owner of the house.
The Joe/Simon scenes went much the same
way as the Basset/Saybrook scenes with the actors moving from shot to
shot with very little time in between. As always, Garett adjusted
some of his lines and made them funnier and more 'Joe.' There weren't
many blown takes that didn't involve a technical adjustment (moving a
light or the microphone). Sometimes, our set doggie got into scenes
without anyone realizing it. He was really interested when it looked
like everyone was going out the front door. He thought it was time to
go bye-bye. We've always had luck with sweet set doggies. I'm glad
that held true. Jon was able to experiment with camera angles and the
actors experimented with a few different readings of the lines. I was
pleased that the blocking caused a physical intimacy between the
characters while solving some editing dilemma for Jon. It is clear
that these characters have a close relationship. Despite the fears of
Agent Saybrook, it is very clear that Joe does not fear Simon at all.
It is also clear that, despite the razzing from Joe and the mayhem
that follows, Simon is content with their situation so long as no one
tried to separate him from Joe. We got what we needed for the teaser
by the time that part of the shoot was done. [See Teaser Gallery1 in the MENU to the right for images of Joe and Simon together.]
We also had one more set to dress
before we could wrap the shoot and eat. There was a quick photo shoot
on a greenscreen that was to be the final shots of the day. This was
to be a taste of the flashback scenes that will be a big part of the
web series. We had to find a way to hang the green screen fabric that
didn't damage the walls. In the end, we used the same
3M Command Hooks that we used to hand the black out curtains in the living room.
There we used a thing curtain rod that fit nicely into the hoot. All
of those items were deeply discounted at Target which was having a
back to school sale. The two windows cost around $15 to dress. We had
extra hooks and tabs from our Christmas decorations to use on the
green screen. All of the hooks came off without any damage to the
paint on the walls. The authentic Japanese table was on loan from
Lucy Doty and
Central City Studio. Lucy was our medical consultant
on
Demon Under Glass. She now owns a studio in Downtown Los Angeles.
The tea set was a wedding gift. The men's kimonos are mine. I've
embraced many aspects of Japanese culture in the last few years. The
kimonos had yet to find a use at home. I had to make the sash or obi.
Getting them into those kimonos was the silliest part of the shoot by
far. The dialog reflects the absurdity of the scene.
As I said in my personal blog, the
speed that the shoot finished was astounding. We had the house back
to the way we found it and were largely packed three hours earlier
than expected. Owen had to move onto another appointment, but the
food was enjoyed by the rest of us. The home owner reports that he
enjoyed the leftovers immensely as did our set doggie. Most
importantly, we have the right kind of footage to give potential
viewers and supporters a clear idea of what the web series. We also
know that we need more crew including a photographer for the behind
the scenes photos. I also must schedule the pod casts we'll do during
the shoot in January so that we aren't trying to cram them in between
shots.
Next up for Jon is editing. Meanwhile,
I have begun actively scouting for the web series and talking to
potential crew and cast. But all of that is for next time.
While being too big was not ideal for
editing, being too small is proving a bit problematic with locations
which will impact our shooting schedule. Hangover 3 can close down a California Freeway. That shoot has the bucks to do that and weather the withering
criticism of the most dangerous of Los Angeles creatures – an
inconvenienced driver. We are too small to get my local library to
close early on its shortest day of the week. The library and the
groovy gazebo both have to be shot on a Sunday – and not the same
Sunday. Some locations are only available mid-week when they are less
busy. The sound stages are fine at the moment, but that could change
on a dime if a bigger production wants the same space at the same
time. Being small is definitely an issue in scheduling. All of my
actors are professional and will fulfill their commitments to the
production and work hard doing it. However, it's always best for set
morale to make sure that actors are treated well while dealing with
budget constraints. For instance, actor trailers or Honey Wagons are
a great perk if the production can afford it. This gives them a
place to be away from the shoot until they are needed and be
comfortable. Good food is another perk that we will have at whatever
budget level. I plan to get a good caterer that will follow us from
location to location. Luckily, there is a lot of competition out here
for Craft Services. There will be one that fits our budget. While I
will not mention company names of our vendors and locations, I will
post photos in this blog and in the info on the fund raising campaign
on what the money is going for. In most cases, I can include
photographs. And then, there are the scheduling considerations for
the actors. Lower budgets means a higher level of consideration of an
actor's schedules when we plan the shoot. They may have other
commitments we'd have to keep in mind. Also, at that time of year,
there are football playoffs and the Super Bowl to keep in mind. Our
leads and the producers are avid football fans. It's less stressful
for all of us, if the shooting schedule keeps these games in mind.
